EP 337 - Collaborative Editing with Erika Steeves

<p>Mark interviews editor Erika Steeves about her experiences in working with publishers and authors as an editor.</p> <p>Prior to the interview, Mark shares a brief personal update and a word about this episode's sponsor.</p> <p>This episode is sponsored by <strong>HOW TO WRITE A HOWLING GOOD STORY</strong> by Wulf Moon</p> <center><img alt="" height="359" src="//assets.libsyn.com/show/110600/HowToWriteAHowlingGoodStory.jpg" width="232" /></center> <p>You can get this book in eBook, Trade Paperback, and Hardcover editions <a href="https://books2read.com/howlinggoodstory" rel="noopener" target="_blank">here</a>.</p> <p>Between Dec 15, 2023 and Jan 1, 2024, you can get the eBook for 50% off at <a href="https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1462411" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Smashwords</a>.</p> <p> </p> <p>In their interview, Mark and Erika talk about:</p> <ul> <li>Meeting at the Waterloo Book Festival</li> <li>How Erika got involved in the world of writing and editing by starting off as an editorial internship at a regional Canadian publisher on Canada's East Coast</li> <li>Deciding to become a freelance editor in 2012 taking on academic projects and some book projects</li> <li>Pivoting over to do more editing on fiction in 2019/2020</li> <li>Erika's experience reading the slushpile from a publisher and how that exposed her to great manuscripts that she loved but which weren't suited for that publisher's mandates</li> <li>The difficult task of having to send rejection letters to authors</li> <li>Being a member of two associations that have directories of editors</li> <li>How Erika finds new writers to work with</li> <li>The various types of editing work that Erika takes on</li> <li>Contuinity editing and the style sheet that Erika likes so much</li> <li>How the editor's "fresh eyes" can help detect some things that writers might no longer be able to detect in a manuscript that has been re-worked numerous times</li> <li>Things Erika wished more authors knew about related to editors</li> <li>How all edits are suggestions and that the writer can decided which suggestions to take, and which ones to ignore</li> <li>Getting a sense of how many hours an editing project is going to take based on the sample edit that was done</li> <li>Things that writers should "look out for" in an editor they're looking to work with</li> <li>Why contracts are important for both parties</li> <li>Types of writers that Erika is cautious about working with</li> <li>Ideas for how a writer can find the right editor for them</li> <li>The "House of Zolo" publishing company that Erika and a number of other writers and editors put together</li> <li>Advice Erika would offer to writers</li> <li>And more . . .</li> </ul> <p>After the interview Mark reflects on Erika's perspective related to things that empower and encourage writers.</p> <p><strong>Links of Interest:</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.erikasteeves.com/">Erika Steeves' Website</a></li> <li><a href="https://houseofzolo.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">House of Zolo: Independent Publishers of Speculative Literature</a></li> <li><a href="https://starkreflections.ca/2023/09/29/episode-325-reflecting-back-3-things-that-are-wrong-with-indie-publishing/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mark's YouTube Channel</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.buymeacoffee.com/markleslie" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Buy Mark a Coffee</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Patreon for Stark Reflections</a></li> <li><a href="https://juliewroteabook.com/category/podcast-all/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Best Book Ever Podcast</a></li> <li><a href="https://loversmoon.ca" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Lovers Moon Podcast</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/relaxedauthor/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Relaxed Author</a> <ul> <li><a href="https://payhip.com/b/w7Gg1" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Buy eBook Direct</a></li> <li><a href="https://payhip.com/b/QK4ks" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Buy Audiobook Direct</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/b/publishingpitfalls" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Publishing Pitfalls for Authors</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/b/workingwithlibrariesandbookstores" rel="noopener" target="_blank">An Author's Guide to Working with Libraries & Bookstores</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Wide for the Win</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Mark's Canadian Werewolf Books</a> <ul> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">This Time Around (Short Story)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">A Canadian Werewolf in New York</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Stowe Away (Novella)</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Fear and Longing in Los Angeles</a></li> <li><a href="https://www.panoramaproject.org" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Fright Nights, Big City</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/loversmoon" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Lover's Moon</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/hexandcity" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Hex and the City</a></li> </ul> </li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/b/thecanadianmounted" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Canadian Mounted: A Trivia Guide to Planes, Trains and Automobiles</a></li> <li><a href="https://books2read.com/diehardtrivia" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Yippee Ki-Yay Motherf*cker: A Trivia Guide to Die Hard</a></li> </ul> <p> </p> <p><strong>Erika Steeves</strong> is a copyeditor and proofreader with a decade of experience editing fiction and nonfiction books. She started out as a publishing assistant for a traditional publisher, learning the ropes from the inside. After that, Erika started her freelance career and founded E.S. Editing! She also works as Editor-in-Chief of the HOZ Journal of Speculative Literature. </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-text-color has-background has-dark-gray-background-color has-dark-gray-color" /> <p><em>The introductory, end, and bumper music for this podcast ("Laser Groove") was composed and produced by Kevin MacLeod of <a href="https://incompetech.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">www.incompetech.com</a></em> <em>and is Licensed under</em> Creative Commons: By <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">Attribution 3.0</a></p>